I have been the cto & lead programmer of a small 2 person startup for 15 years. We are finally shutting down the co for biz reasons, and I wonder what options are realistic. My question is am I marketable as a cto/vp engineering/tech director at mid sized firms? At what level would I be attractive to larger firms? Or should I go back to senior engineer and try to go into mgmt from there? Early 40s, good analytical & communication skills, I like coding but that doesn't maximize my abilities; personality assessments say I could be a leader but so far only managed small vendor teams ;) ‐---- Edit: Cto is my official title, developer is my day to day job. I do occasionally lead freelancers or offshore teams on 1-2 year new product developments!
You might be able to get a Senior Engineer role if your technical abilities are good. Your CTO title is fake.
Thx!
Aim for senior engineer
Thx!
If coding is not your strength, look out for SDM roles.
Thx!
Cto is my official title, developer is my day to day job. I do occasionally lead freelancers or offshore teams on new product developments!
You brag that you've made 6 multi million $ sites, so why don't you just retire? Or is that money all gone now? Otherwise, you can definitely get director roles at mid sized companies, but they'd pay less than senior engineer at FAANG
Developed/worked on, not owned! That is the cost of developing these sites, not the revenue stream, and includes projects I worked on at my previous agency. I see where I was misleading and corrected, thx.
Honestly i can see you as a sr eng. But if i heard about your expectations of VP role i probably would have to have a staright talk. 2 people overseas + contractors is pretty small time I would not consider you for management to be honest. You experience seems appropriate for techlead role, sr eng, mid size company.
Thx!
CTO to L4 at Google is a thing
Thx! any ref to what they are looking for at that level? I see levels.fyi
Curious where you ended up. I have a similar story.
You are the “CTO” and “Lead Programmer” of a 2 person company???
Thats impressive. I am merely the VP of the snack room. I need to ask for another promotion. Sometimes i lead a team of 5 to lunch.